Janga la Ngata: How first responders battle mental anguish and a dislike for meat
The scene of the accident at the Nakuru-Eldoret highway along the Ngata stretch.
What would you do if your profession constantly placed you face to face with road crash scenes and the victims?
Well, for the next few minutes, allow me to open your eyes into the world of people who have found themselves in this situation, purely because of the jobs they hold.
Journalists
I stood at the Nakuru County morgue as I watched families from around Ngata area stream in to identify the bodies of their loved ones.
This was my first time covering the emotions of those whose loved ones had perished in the road crash that occurred on November 6, 2023. I couldn’t help but tear.
The helplessness in the eyes of the families as they left the morgue door and the screams that filled the air sent my brain into shock. These wails would follow me to my sleep for several days before they cleared.
Further, pursuing interviews at the hospital where accident survivors were receiving treatment made my heart race.
It felt torturous to make victims of road accidents recount the ordeal on their hospital bed. Hearing the pain in their voice and seeing the anguish in their eyes as they relieve the horrific event was tough.
-Purity Kinuthia, Mtaa Wangu
Nakuru based photojournalist, Boniface Mwangi has covered four accident at Ngata.
No matter how many road accidents you cover, one can never say they are immune to the feeling that comes with seeing lifeless bodies scattered on the tarmac.
I have friends who live around Ngata bridge and they have called me whenever an accident happened there.
This always throws me out of balance for a minute since I do not know what to expect at the scene.
As a photojournalist, my priority is to capture what is happening using my camera.
It breaks my soul that I cannot be the extra pair of hands that can help to save lives or evacuate victims of car crashes.
-Bonface Mwangi, Daily Nation
First Responders.
Rachael Maru, a volunteer with the Kenya Red Cross has been a first respondent for the past 15 years.
In the 15 years that I have worked as a responder along the Nakuru -Eldoret highway, I have learnt that the first few minutes after an accident are very critical for victims of a road accident.
When that call comes, informing me of a road crash, it is never an easy call to pick up.
Regardless, I always take a boda boda and make my way to the scene. At my house I have a first aid kit which is my most important tool in an accident scene.
Witnessing all these graphic scenes has made me tone down my meat consumption. I have since sought out alternative sources of proteins for myself.
However, seeing some people recover after I have helped them is enough payment for me.
My appeal to the government is for them to look into a solution on this Ngata stretch so that more lives are not lost on the road.
- Racheal Maru, Redcross
Doctors and nurses
Florence Ngoya, nurse in charge out patient/ casualty department at the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital.
It takes a team to handle patients coming in from a road accident.
Despite a disturbing increase of road crashes along the Ngata stretch, the number of doctors has remained almost the same.
This means at some point, the same medical practitioners have to continuously be exposed to victims and patients of road accidents continuously.
This can bring about vicarious trauma (the indirect exposure to other people's trauma such that it has the same harmful effect on your mental health as experiencing trauma directly) to the team who handle accident patients.
It is devastating to receive patients from a road accident. Some come in when seriously injured and even after trying your best to save them, they may pass away. This has an emotional toll on you.
Talking amongst ourselves is what helps ease the burden
-Ngoya Florence. Nurse in-charge. Nakuru Teaching and Referral hospital
Phycologist
Lucy Ondicho, counseling psychologist at the Nakuru Teaching and Referral hospital.
Victims of road accidents and their families need counselling to help come to terms with what has happened.
We have had patients who have been brought while nursing devastating injuries. Some end up losing a limb or an arm.
My job is to counsel them and help them accept that there is life even after this drastic change.
We also help share the news to families when their loved ones die. However, making the call requesting the relative to come to the hospital is the hardest call to make.
My team and I also offers psychosocial support through talk therapy, to first responders and doctors serving patients.
Suppressing the emotional impact that comes from attending to patients and witnessing horrific accident scenes can be detrimental to your mental health.
-Lucy Ondicho, counselling psychologist